How would the electricity in a typical house behave when the whole circuit is turned on at once? AskElectronics

I had previously posted in /r/electricians, but I got several conflicting answers. I am looking for a more detailed explanation of what might have happened in my house and I'm hoping you guys would be able to provide a technical explanation.

Last week my landlord called an electrician to fix something, and in doing so, the electrician toggled the power to my entire apartment and the one next week (both are on the same circuit/breaker box). He toggled the master switch for both apartments about ten times in one minute (off and on).

A few of my electronics stopped working after he did this. Would anything harmful or unusual happen to the electricity if the switch is toggled off and on quickly like this? Someone mentioned voltage spikes to me, but if this is the case, can someone explain?

Thanks!

Some additional info: my apartment and the one next door are all on one circuit. There are two refrigerators, two washing machines, two air conditioners, and one heater connected to the circuit, as well as the usual mains and lighting. We use 220V.

Submitted June 06, 2015 at 11:15AM by dexterdoughnuts http://ift.tt/1IjgSap AskElectronics